Portugal’s President proposes extension of the State of Emergency until May 2nd
The State of Emergency has been in force in Portugal since 00:00 on March 19th and has been renewed once.
The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, proposed this Thursday to Parliament the second extension of the State of Emergency, for a further 15-day period until May 2nd.
The Head of State announced the sending of this proposal to the Parliament in a note posted on the Presidency’s website, after receiving a favourable opinion from the Government.
“After hearing the Government, which pronounced itself favourably this morning, the President of the Republic sent the draft decree renewing the State of Emergency to the Assembly of the Republic for its authorisation,” reads the note, which includes the letter and the draft decree sent to parliament.
In the explanatory memorandum of the decree, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out that depending on the evolution of data and considering the experience in other European countries, the possibility of future gradual, phased, alternate and differentiated reactivation of services, companies and establishments is now foreseen.
According to him, this gradual reactivation could take place with possible openings with opening hours adapted, by sectors of activity, by the size of the company in terms of employment, the area of the commercial establishment or its geographical location, with adequate monitoring.
The State of Emergency has been in force in Portugal since 00:00 on March 19 and has already been renewed once. According to the Constitution, it cannot last more than 15 days, without prejudice to possible renewals with the same time limit.
